My Reading Stats for 2018 – A Bookish Overview

Hello all! I did this last year and I had a lot of fun with it, so I figured, why not make it an annual tradition?

Also since I did it last year I figured I could draw plenty of comparisons!

What I find interesting looking at these stats is how some of my reading has changed in just a year. One of the best things is that while my number of books read has gone down (from 220), my average rating has gone up (from 3.5). I’m really excited to see this and my best guess for this improvement would be the way I choose books- aka I think I know my tastes better and reading so many reviews means I can vet books a lot better nowadays- so I owe the blogging community a vote of thanks for this one!

And cos I’m dorky and like statistics, I had a good time comparing 2018 to 2017 (link). For instance, the amount of YA I read was wayyy up- from 39% to 47%. Makes sense- I needed more time to relax. My reading of classics and literary fiction has remained largely static in terms of statistics- around 13%- although given how many books I read last year, this works out as significantly less. Fantasy reading is down from 43% to 34%, while contemporaries are up from 16% to 23%- not only is it interesting to note that I spent more time in the real world, but I can speculate that this more varied approach stopped some genre fatigue. Interesting stuff!

It’s sad that even though it was super short, it was still a complete waste of time.

It’s taken me years to finally brave this one- I count this as a total victory!

Normally I’m reluctant to use the term… buuut in this case I’ll make an exception.

Well, it is a little slice of genius

Just the one:

Ten! I did *a lot* of rereading this year and it was a great change! I used to reread way more when I was younger and it felt great to reconnect with that habit. I reckon it also had something to do with the fact that I got more enjoyment out of my books this year (just look at those ratings!)

It currently 4.65- possibly cos it’s a new release and only the most enthusiastic readers will have read it at this stage (in fact, when I started making this post it was 4.67, so there you go, it’s already going down).

At 3.26- makes sense- it’s a complete waste of time.

And that’s a wrap! Do you keep track of your stats? How have your ratings been this year? Let me know in the comments!

I keep track of a very limited number of stats. I’ve got my Year in Review post all finished up and it is scheduled for Tuesday. A New Post for a New Year 🙂

I keep seeing all these year end posts with averages way over 3.5 and it makes me wonder just what I’m doing wrong. Then I just realize how much happier I am to live with my own stuff instead of trying to conform to somebody else’s expectations.

Stats post, wooo! I do keep track of my stats. I have a spreadsheet where I track all types of things, some diversity stats, some random stats (like the month or season I read a book), etc. In fact, I spent the weekend updating my spreadsheet (I got so far behind) so that I could get my stats together for my annual post. I love these types of posts, especially once you have a year or two doing them then you can look back and see if there are any patterns and such. Fun!

Great post! I love pie charts and yours had such a great variety. I’m so impressed on Gone with the Wind as well; I had no idea how huge that book was until I saw it on one of the library shelves at work lol. Hopefully this new year will bring you some new favorites 😀

Yes! Love to see some stats and pie charts. I also approve of your rereads, comforting old friends that had me feeling nostalgic just from the covers. Making it through all the Harry Potter books again is rather a feat – especially given that you read so much else. I think I’ve decided not to read them again, despite having enjoyed them as I grew up, and their major cultural influence on children’s lit in recent decades.

Thank you! I completely agree- rereading more was one of the best things I did this year 🙂 Thank you!! I can understand that- I made that decision for a log time until I got the sudden urge to reread it all 😉

I always mean to keep track of everything but usually just do what you can monitor on Goodreads. I do know I read way, way more than usual this year. Fun to see your stats and wrap-up! Hope you have a great year ahead reading and otherwise 🙂

I am still trying to finish a book started in September 2017 😦 😦 (says the person who had to buy a new copy of Gone with the Wind as a teen as I wore my first one out through over-use!) Not a great year for reading for me but congratulations to you!

This is such an interesting post, it’s posts like these that make me remember that stats can be fun and interesting instead of the complete bore of a lesson we had in school. But really, right here I have to applaud how you analysed the stats – once again, so interesting!

Yes! to stats! 🙂 Love stats… well, looking at them anyway! I am currently halfway through updating my spreadsheet to get the stats as well because someone was a lazy cow and didn’t update the spreadsheet continuously… sigh XD
Is the Hugge books kind of like- yeah, we know that makes total sense to do that but ain’t nobody got time or money? 😀

I completely forgot to check my stats for last year. I already know that my stats have plummeted because I have been in a terrible slump this year. Re-reading has dominated my reading life and I’ve found that I’ve been gravitating towards fantasy more than contemporary.

I think my average rating is fairly high and that’s mainly because I know the books I’m likely to enjoy. I’m fairly picky when it comes to books but it pays off in terms of levels of enjoyment.

So Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was my most popular book a few years back- I figure, whenever one rereads it that’s the most popular book one reads that year…. 🙂 so glad you love Master and Margherita as I do!

I love tracking my stats, too! For 2018 I added author diversity statistics (race and country of origin) and for 2019 I’ll also be tracking award winners. I want to read more award-winning books (Hugo, Nebula, Newbery, etc) so keeping track of it should help me be more aware.

Oh – I also tracked the average publication year of the books I read, and in 2018 my average pub year was 1959. That one amuses me a lot.

I don’t purposely keep track of a lot of stats, but I do love seeing what it gives. Goodreads is usually my main source for stats, especially that yearly wrap-up they do for you. I like how it’s almost 50/50 between YA/adult books. Also nice how you get to compare from a year to another. I remember you doing these graphics last year too. Thanks for sharing! 😀

hehe fair enough- I feel a little dorky going all out like this 😉 Oh I like those as well 😀 And yeah- comparing it year on year is now one of my favourite parts about this post (cos I’m realllly dorky, I’m looking forward to being able to getting some interesting analysis when I’ve done it enough… oops- sorry I let out my inner nerd there 😉 ) Thanks for reading! 😀

Oooh I love stats and these make for some interesting comparisons. I guess the number of books that you read is lower this year because you went on your travels? That’s not a bad thing 🙂. That’s a lot of YA though!

Ha, I’m definitely not surprised Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was your most popular read of this year. I’d actually have been surprised if it was anything but that. 🙂 I’m kind of glad to see Kingdom of Ash was the highest rated, I know it’s only a new release and chances are it’ll go down, like you said, but I still have it on my TBR list so seeing it so high is encouraging.
Also I thought 165 was a lot of books, knowing you read up to 220 in the years before is just insane! How did you do it?!
Great post, and I hope you have a brilliant 2019 with plenty more amazing books to discover. 🙂 ❤

I’ve never broken down my reading into graphs to see which genres or age breakdowns I’m reading…. I did start using a spreadsheet to track info like this in the middle of 2018, which I will continue with in 2019. I will be able to see all kinds of fun info at the end of this year 🙂

I also used to re-read books when I was younger, but don’t really re-read much anymore. I think this has to do with the fact that there are so many new releases and backlist books to get to, I don’t prioritize re-reads. If I do re-read, it is usually in a different format. For example I’ll listen to the audiobook the second time around, or I re-read the first 3 HP books last Christmas via the illustrated editions.

I started reading the Tiffany Aching series this year for the first time! I wanted to jump into Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, but I’d never read any of his books before. Someone suggested starting with The Wee Free Men, and I’m so happy I did 🙂

I love seeing these stats- especially from you as your tastes are so fun and varied! Glad to hear your average ratings went up though, I think it is such a good development when bloggers start reading more books they think they like, rather than only reading things due to hype (and therefore might not be what they want). I wish I had the patience to do all these stats- great job! 🙂